JOB C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21 C22 C23 C24 C25 C26 C27 C28 C29 C30 C31 C32 C33 C34 C35 C36 C37 C38 C39 C40 C41 C42

UST JOB Chapter 31

◄ JOB 31 ► ║ ═ ©

31 “I have made a solemn promise to myself that I will not look at a woman in a lustful way.

So I would not look at a woman who was not my wife and want to have sexual relations with her.

2 If I did not do what I promised,

God who is in heaven would certainly punish me.

Shaddai in heaven would make sure that I got what I deserved.

3 I would not have done wrong in that way, because I know that unrighteous people experience calamities.

People who do what is wrong experience disasters when God punishes them.

4 I know that God sees everything that I do.

He is aware of each individual action that I take.

5 I solemnly declare that I have not lied to others

and that I have not tried to deceive others.

6 I only ask God to judge me fairly.

If he does that, he will find that I am innocent.

7 I solemnly declare that I have continually acted properly.

I have not seen wrong things to do and then done them.

I am not guilty of committing sin.

8 If I have been lustful or deceptive, I hope that when I plant seeds, someone else will harvest the crops and eat them.

Or may someone uproot the crops that are growing in my fields!

9 I solemnly declare that I have not been attracted to another man’s wife.

I have not made secret arrangements with a woman to have sexual relations with her while her husband was away.

10 If I have done that, I hope that my own wife will be attracted to another man

and that she will have sexual relations with him.

11 If I had sexual relations with another man’s wife, that would be a terrible sin.

If I were caught and her husband brought me to court, the judges would certainly decide to punish me.

12 I would have to pay a fine that would cost me everything I owned.

It would be as if a fire had burned everything I had right to the ground.

It would be as if someone pulled out all the crops that were growing in my fields.

13 I solemnly declare that when my male or female servants complained to me about something,

I took their complaint seriously and made sure that I treated them fairly.

14 I knew that if I did not treat my servants fairly,

I could not expect God to be merciful to me when he judged me.

If God came to help my servants,

I could offer no excuse for the way I had treated them. 15 I am no different from my servants, so I have no right to mistreat them.

The same God created each one of us.

16-18 16-18I solemnly declare that from the time that I was young,

I have taken care of orphans and I have protected widows.

I have not failed to provide poor people with the things that they needed.

I have not caused widows to lose hope.

I have not eaten all of my food by myself and not shared it with orphans.

19 I solemnly declare that I provided clothes for poor people when I saw that they were suffering from lack of clothing.

I have provided warm outer garments for needy people.

20 I gave them warm clothes that my servants had woven from the wool of my sheep.

The poor people thanked me for helping them.

21 I solemnly declare that I never threatened an orphan who brought a case against me in the public square.

Even if I knew that the other elders would favor me,

I made sure that the orphan received fair treatment.

22 If I have neglected poor people or oppressed orphans,

may the arm that I did not use to help them but used instead to threaten them

fall right out of its socket!

23 I have not done wrong things such as I have been describing,

because I respect God and I know that he punishes sin.

I would not sin against such a majestic God!

24 I solemnly declare that I have not depended on wealth

as a source of security and power.

25 I solemnly declare that I did not think that I was better than other people

because I had many possessions and because I had become very rich.

26 I solemnly declare that I never looked at the sun when it was shining

or at the beautiful moon

27 and made a gesture to worship them.

I never wanted to do that.

28 If I had worshiped the sun or the moon and people found out that I had,

the judges would certainly decide to punish me for that too,

because I would have been worshiping a false god instead of the true God.

29-30 29-30I solemnly declare that I have not been glad when my enemies have suffered misfortunes.

I have not thought that I was better than they were when they experienced disasters.

I have not sinned by praying that God would curse people who hated me

and cause them to die.

31-32 31-32I solemnly declare that I have invited travelers to stay in my house.

Visitors have not had to sleep in the streets.

My servants talk about how I give food to anyone who needs it.

33 I know that people generally try to hide their sins.

But I solemnly declare that I have not done that.

34 I did not let fear of what people would say about me or think of me

keep me from admitting that I had done wrong and making amends.

35 I wish that I had someone who would judge my case against God!

I hereby declare that all that I have just said is true.

Now I wish that Shaddai would state his case.

I would like to see his written statement of charges against me.

36 If Shaddai wrote out his charges against me,

I would not be ashamed, because I know that I am innocent.

I would display the charges publicly, because they would actually list what I had not done.

37 I would explain to God in detail

how I was innocent of each charge.

I would approach him as a ruler would: without being afraid.

38 I solemnly declare that I have not defrauded the people who farm my land.

They have no reason to cry out for justice against me.

39 I solemnly declare that I have taken only a fair share of the crops that people have grown on my land.

I have made sure that the people who grew crops on my land kept enough of them to feed their families.

40 If I have cheated the people who farm my land,

then I wish that thorns would grow in my fields instead of wheat.

I wish that bad weeds would grow there instead of barley!”

After this, Job said nothing further to defend himself to his three friends.

JOB C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21 C22 C23 C24 C25 C26 C27 C28 C29 C30 C31 C32 C33 C34 C35 C36 C37 C38 C39 C40 C41 C42